A ROCKY relationship ended with a spurned lover committing suicide, after leaving behind a note for his 16-year-old partner at his best friend’s home in Aubrey Barker Road, South Ruimveldt, Georgetown.There, on Boxing Day, he ended their four-year relationship by taking his life. The body of 21-year-old Lorenzo James of 238 Duncan Street, Campbellville is currently at the Lyken Funeral Parlour. His friend is in police custody assisting with investigations.

Sources close to the investigation disclosed that James visited his 16-year-old girlfriend’s home at Golden Grove, East Bank Demerara on Christmas night while the teen’s mother was at work. The mother is a security guard in Georgetown.

James had an argument with his partner in the home, and he decided to strip her naked, then proceeded to sexually and physically abuse her.

“He locked her up in the house, raped her, bust up she head and cuff her in the face while having her kneel before him chanting that she must not mess around him or his family because she will pay the price,” the investigator revealed.

During the entire ordeal, the teen’s mother called her cell phone but got no answer.

DISTRESS CALL
Subsequently, the young lady returned a call to her mother’s cell phone to say, “Mommy, I am calling you to tell you that I love you and this is the last time you will be hearing from me.” The traumatised mother then called a neighbour to check on her daughter, but music was blaring and the neighbour could not gain the attention of anyone inside the house.

Upon informing the mother of the situation, the mother abandoned her security post and summoned a taxi; and while on her way home, stopped at the Grove Police Station, where she made a report.
She was told by a police officer that she would have to go home and confirm what was happening then return.

Upon reaching her destination, she was greeted by loud music emanating from her home. The taxi driver, who is a former soldier, assisted the mother after futile attempts to gain entry into the house. With the assistance of another concerned citizen, he broke down the door, making possible entry into the home.

James was found shirtless with a knife in his hands. He tried to escape but was apprehended and turned over to the Grove Police Station, from whence he subsequently escaped.

“The young lady was naked and bleeding, and there were bruises all over her body and blood about the area. She was eventually taken to the GPHC for a medical, after she had been taken to the Brickdam Police Station, where she received a call from James’s friend, informing her that he had drunk poison,” the investigator said.

SHOCK
James’s father, Lorenzo James Sr, was shocked at what occurred, while his mother was inconsolable. The senior James said that although his son had had a relationship with the young lady for the past four years, he had met her only six months ago, since they had been living together at one point.

“I last saw my son on 24th December, and I leave at 10:00 am to go to Ogle Airport to go into the North West District. I never knew he had any problem. I never knew the girl personally, it was just ‘hi and bye’,” the elder James pointed out.

He explained that his son had never spoken of any issue; but, years ago, he had had a problem in the relationship, but the problem was sorted out. Other family members and relatives noted that the girl’s mother had encouraged the relationship, since James Jnr had loved the girl very much.

“The man spends all his money on them. He even helped out with painting the house at one time. Majority of the time he would sleep over at the house. What kind of mother would allow such a thing with her young daughter if she didn’t know it was something serious?” one relative asked.

Another relative, to substantiate the contention that the girl’s mother had encouraged the relationship, brought out the cell phone of the late Lorenzo Jnr to show it was filled with text messages between the teenagers, and in some instances angry exchanges, with the teen’s mother texting him a ban from the home.
“They had a quarrelsome relationship because the mother knows her daughter is a ‘regular’ girl that would be dealing with other persons while in a relationship with Lorenzo. Is years now these two are together — four years now — and this is the end result,” one relative lamented.

By Rabindra Rooplall